The present invention generally relates to apparatus and methods for dispensing premium items, specifically relates to apparatus and methods for inserting flat premium items into packaging, and in the most preferred form relates to apparatus and methods for inserting coupon items into packaging.
Due to the fierce competition in the marketing of breakfast cereals, it is the practice of many cereal manufacturers to include a premium with the cereal to promote the sale of the cereal beyond the marketability of the cereal itself. It can certainly be appreciated that such promotional devices must meet several requirements. First, as such devices are typically given away with the product, such devices must be relatively inexpensive to manufacture. Additionally, such devices must have the ability to be easily included with the product without disruption of the normal handling of such product. Thus, it is desirable that the promotional device be includable with the product without requiring different boxes, cartons, or the like, which would increase the cost of product production. Similarly, the promotional device should not require special handling or care by the manufacturer and retailer of the product beyond that normally given the product without the promotional device. But most important, the promotional device should have consumer appeal to maximize the promotional value of the device.
One type of promotional devices which meet these requirements and which have had successful market acceptance are flat premium items like coupons or the like which are placed with the product in the boxes of the product.
It can then be appreciated that customer dissatisfaction and complaints can arise if the printing located on the exterior of the box indicates that a promotional device is present when in fact for that particular box, the promotional device was omitted for whatever reason. Likewise, the promotional device can be positioned to be attached to the inner liner or bag and/or the box such as at the seal thereof, with the promotional device potentially not being usable or not detected by the customer. Further, if the promotional device is located at the seal, sealing of the packaging may not be complete resulting in the customer rejecting the product because of tampering concerns. Coupons are especially prone to misplacement due to their light weight and since they are easily blown about due to air currents arising from moving machinery or the like. In fact, such causes of customer dissatisfaction may actually reduce the marketability of the product if occurring frequently. It can then be appreciated that promotional devices can be placed in the boxes manually. Although greatly reducing the chance of omission or misplacement of the promotional devices, such manual placement is relatively expensive in both the labor required but also in the disruption of the normal handling of the product. Automatic placement by mechanical means is less costly in both labor and disruption of normal handling, but typically increases the possibility of omission or misplacement of the promotional device in the packaging.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide novel apparatus and methods for placing promotional devices in packaging.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide such novel promotional device placement apparatus and methods for inserting flat premium items such as coupons in packaging.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide such a novel flat premium insertion apparatus and methods for placing the premium within the inner liner or bag of the packaging.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide such a novel flat premium insertion apparatus and methods for placing the premium between the inner liner or bag and the box or carton of the packaging.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide such a novel flat premium insertion apparatus and methods providing positive control during the placement of the premium.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide such a novel flat premium insertion apparatus and methods including sensors to insure the placement of the premium.